


The Magnificent Seven

by iamhalfdragon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Demons, Episode Retelling, Episode: s03e01 The Magnificent Seven, Family, Sister-fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 18:24:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15200744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamhalfdragon/pseuds/iamhalfdragon
Summary: AU where the Winchester brothers had a sister; Alex Winchester.The episode The Magnificent Seven from her perspective.





	The Magnificent Seven

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I wrote this 2 years ago and it's been sitting on my laptop for a long ass time and I was just like"fuck it" today because whyyyyy not.  
> Literally just the episode The Magnificent Seven written out with some extra shit sprinkled in. I hope you have as much fun as I did writing this one weekend 2 years ago while drinking a whole bunch of Brandy and Pepsi XD  
> This is the first time I've ever posted my fanfiction, soooooooooooooo...........  
> Also. I have not edited it in 2 years... soooooooo.........

The Road So Far  
“Dad’s gone now, we have to carry out his legacy; and that means we have to hunt down as many sons of bitches as we possibly can.”

 

May 2, 2007

“Take cover, now!” Bobby commanded. All of them ran from the shuddering Devil’s Gate, finding whatever shelter they could in the dark graveyard. Alex followed Dean; she jumped over a headstone and rolled with the momentum, then she braced herself against it, side by side, with Dean in a similar situation to her left. The Gate shuddered; all of Hell trying to force it’s way though. “Dean!” she shouted, looking at her brother with wild eyes. Suddenly, the Gate blasted open and all the evil of Hell broke loose; black demonic smoke blasting its way out and filling the cold air around them. For several seconds, that was all that Alex could see: darkness. Then it cleared and she could see the back of her brother’s head, “What the hell just happened?”  
Ellen winced and shouted to be heard over the sound coming from the Gate, “That’s a Devil’s Gate: a damned door to Hell!” Alex’s eyes flew wide: what had they unleashed? But there was no time for fear, “Come on, we gotta shut that gate!” Alex followed Ellen and Bobby’s cue and ran; she pressed her shoulder against the Gate’s door alongside Bobby, straining to get it shut. It barely even budged. Looking back, she saw Dean, who was still standing among the graves, staring at the Colt in his hands. “Dean!” Alex shouted for his attention. She closed her eyes and groaned with exertion. Things; spirits and demons and everything in between, were exiting Hell through the Gate.

“Dean!” she heard Sam shout. Alex looked up and saw him. “No!” she breathed. There he was: the yellow-eyed demon. While they had been focused on shutting the Gate it had forcefully taken the Colt from Dean and thrown him against a headstone. Sam left his position at the door and ran towards the yellow-eyed demon. It barely spared him a glance and it flicked the hand holding the Colt in his direction. Sam was thrown backwards into a tree, the demon’s power holding him against it and several feet above the ground. “No!” Alex shouted, and left her position at the Gate to help her brothers. “Alex, stop.” Bobby groaned when they lost what little progress they had made closing the Gate. But Alex could only see her brothers.

“I’ll get to you in a minute champ, but I’m proud of you, I knew you had it in ya.” The demon smiled at Sam. Alex was only a moment from tackling the demon when it flicked its wrist again and she flew head over heels; knocking the wind and nearly the consciousness from her. “Not right now, sweetheart.” Her body settled roughly against the ground and she fought against the confusion in her vision, trying to take a deep breath into her unresponsive lungs. Dean saw his little sister struggle and shouted her name, “Alex!” and began to get to his feet. He met Yellow-eyes’ laughing gaze for a moment, then the demon tossed Dean back against a headstone: “Sit a spell.” Dean thrashed against the power holding him against the headstone as he tried to get back up; to help his sister, his brother, or to fight the yellow-eyed demon, he didn’t know.

Yellow-eyes approached Dean almost casually, like he had all the time in the world. “So, Dean,” Alex heard the demon saying, “I gotta thank you.” She finally got a shallow breath into her lungs, but she couldn’t get up; held fast to the ground by the yellow-eyed demon’s power. She could only see the violent sky above her, unable to turn her head to see her brothers or the demon. “You see, demons can’t resurrect people unless a deal is made. I know: red tape, it’ll make you nuts.” The yellow-eyed demon’s belittling tone only adding fire to the anger in Alex’s stomach. “But thanks to you, Sammy’s back in rotation! I wasn’t counting on that, but I’m glad. I liked him better than Jake anyhow. Tell me, you ever heard the expression: ‘if the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is’?” Alex bristled at the mention of Dean’s damned deal. “You call that deal good?” Dean replied with trademark sarcasm. “Well, it’s a better shake than your dad ever got. And you never wondered why…” Alex was having trouble hearing the conversation over the howling sound coming from the Gate and the thunder from the storm above them.

“I’m surprised at you. I mean, you saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold, wasn’t it? How certain are you, that what you brought back is one hundred percent pure Sam?” Dean glanced over to Sam, meeting his eyes, unable to stop the wave of doubt rushing through him. “You of all people should know that what’s dead, should stay dead.”

Moments passed where Alex could only hear the sound of the storm and her own heart pounding while she fought against the power holding her down, fearful of what was happening to her family while she couldn’t see or hear anything. “Dean? Sam?” she called out for them, fear obvious in her voice. Then the voice of yellow-eyed demon became audible to her again, “Anyway, thanks a bunch! I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now anyway.” The words sent an ice cold chill through her. “I couldn’t have done it without your pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for your family.” The echo of a gun, the Colt, cocking, almost paralyzed Alex with terror. Then, the sound of a struggle. Alex heard a gunshot. “Dean!” her brother’s name rushed from her lips. Tears sprang into her eyes as she began fearing the worst. Silence. Something that sounded electrical. The unseen force holding her down was lifted and she shot up instantaneously, the momentary light-headedness at getting up so quickly forgotten at the sight of Yellow-Eyes on the ground, with a smoking bullet hole in its chest.  
Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Alex recognized the fact that Bobby and Ellen managed to close the Gates. But Alex was staring at the yellow-eyed demon. In the corner of her eye she noticed her father standing several feet away, also staring at the demon. “Dad?” John Winchester stood and walked to Dean who held the Colt in his hand. Dad was smiling at Dean in a way Alex had never seem him look at anyone, and put a hand on his shoulder. How? Dad glanced at Sam, standing a few feet away, smiling at him the same way. Her body jolted and filled with warmth as he turned and looked at her too. Dad looked at her with pride. A tear escaped his eye and he nodded at her. Alex lost strength in her legs and fell to her knees. Dad took a few steps away from them, still smiling, still proud, and a white light filled him. Alex tried her best to see through tear-filled eyes, her heart aching just to see the look of pride and happiness on her father’s face, “Dad…”

But John Winchester flickered, and was gone.  
The siblings looked at each other, sharing the moment without having to say anything. Everything was quiet and seemed calm. Slowly, Alex got up and joined her brothers standing over the body of the yellow-eyed demon, looking at it in disbelief and awe. She was numb, not quite believing what had happened, not knowing how to process any of it; least of all her Dad’s ghostly manifestation. Dean looked at her with a smile that mirrored her own awe, “Well, check that off the to-do list.” A relieved laugh escaped her. Sam smiled too, “You did it.” Dean was serious again, “I didn’t do it alone.” Dad… Sam looked around them, almost like he was searching for him, “Do you think Dad really… do you think he really climbed out of Hell?” The truth in his words threw Alex, and took a hold of Sam’s arm steadying her. He stared at her, deep emotion in his eyes. Dean turned to look at the Devil’s Gate, “The door was open.” Alex gazed into Sammy’s eyes, “Dad really came through for us.” Dean walked around the yellow-eyed demon’s body and put an arm over her shoulders, “And if anyone’s stubborn enough to walk out of Hell… it would be him.” They smiled at each other, tears falling from Alex’s eyes. She felt a sob working together in her chest at the thought of her father whom she had believed would never come through for her, for any of them. Dean pulled her closer to himself and Sam took her hand, connecting the three of them. “Where do you think he is now?” Sam asked. “I don’t know,” Dean stated looking lost. Sam glanced down at the body they stood over, “I kind of can’t believe it, guys; I mean, our whole lives – everything – has been prepping for this... and now it… I kind of don’t know what to say…” he trailed off. Alex felt a hollow feeling in her chest and said, failing to put it into words herself, “And now it’s just...” They looked at each other. Dean smiled at his two younger siblings, “I know.” He let go of Alex and bent down over the yellow-eyed demon’s dead body, “That was for our mom, you son of a bitch.” A sob broke free from Alex and she threw her arms around Sam, a giddy relief, but also guilt, flooding her. Her sob became a laugh, and Sam hugged her. Bobby and Ellen joined them a moment later, looking as tired and worn out as Alex felt. She gave Uncle Bobby a hug, another wave of emotion striking her. They didn’t say much. Dean and Sam left to fetch the salt and lighter fluid to get rid of the bodies of the demon and Jake.

When they came back, both of them looked pissed, obviously the moment was over. Sam glared at her, “You knew? You knew what Dean did?” Alex felt ice flood her veins. “Yeah.” “And you just, let him?” he growled. “No, Sam. Of course I didn’t ‘just let him’! But if he didn’t do it, I would have done it myself!” Alex raised her anger to match her little brother’s tone. Both her brothers seemed surprised at the declaration. “Dean just… beat me to it.” Her hand lightly touched the bruise under her eye where Dean had hit her and knocked her out before he went to go make a deal with the cross-roads demon. Sam covered his face with a hand, “No, sis… just. No.” A spark lit in Alex’s eyes, anger growing, “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the exact same thing for one of us.” Sam looked away, knowing that it was true, having told Dean almost the exact same thing just moments ago. His eyes filled with determination as he looked back at Dean, “I don’t care what it takes, we’re gonna get him out of this.” He smiled almost ruefully, “I guess we’re gonna save your ass for a change.” Alex nodded; Dean saw the same resolve etched on both his younger siblings’ faces.

“Sorry to interrupt this chick-flick moment, kids,” Ellen approached them, “but even if the yellow-eyed demon is dead, a lot more got through that gate.” Dean, ever the practical brother asked, “How many do you think?” Sam answered for them all, “A hundred, maybe two-hundred? It’s an army. He’s unleashed an army.” Alex’s stomach dropped. None of them said anything for a moment, and then Bobby sighed, “I hope to hell you kids are ready, because the war has just begun.” Alex looked up to her big brother Dean, knowing he would say something to make it all better, he looked determined, and grinned at her, and her fear abated a little, “Well then, we’ve got work to do.”

 

May 7, 2007

The two youngest Winchesters sat in the Impala outside of a seedy motel doing research: Sam reading through an old book he’d found somewhere and Alex sat with Dad’s journal. She was in the front seat, her little brother in the back, trying to concentrate on the journal in front of her and pretending that she didn’t know what her older brother was doing in the motel room they were parked in front of. Dean had begged them to give him one night of privacy to ‘entertain’ the Doberman Twins. Again, Alex shoved that thought from her mind in mild disgust, and continued paging through Dad’s journal. Just as she had refocused her mind, she felt her phone vibrate; she pulled it from her jacket and checked the caller ID: Uncle Bobby.

“Hey, Alex.”  
“Hey, Uncle Bobby.”  
“What you doing?”  
“Sammy and I are doing some research.”  
“You reading through your Daddy’s journal again, huh?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Listen idjit, you ain’t gonna find what you’re looking for in no book. Put me on speaker.”  
“Fine,” she pulled the phone away from her ear and met Sam’s questioning glance, “It’s Uncle Bobby.” She pressed the speakerphone button, “Go ahead, Uncle Bobby, you’re on speaker.”  
“Hey Bobby,” Sam greeted.  
“Sam,” Bobby acknowledged him, “You okay, boy?”  
Sam sighed, “I’m fine.”  
“Where’s your brother?”  
Sam answered, “Polling the electorate.” Alex chuckled at his Simpsons reference.  
“What?” Uncle Bobby asked.  
Sam grinned at her, “Never mind, Bobby.”  
“Well, you kids better pack it up; I think I finally found something.” Alex and Sam met each other’s eyes, sharing hope. “Crop failure and some cicada swarms, kids. Haven’t gotten word of any dead bodies or any other omens, but it’s a good place as any to start.”  
“Sounds a little thin, but okay.” Alex shrugged.  
“We’re do we meet you, Bobby?” Sam asked, more convinced than his sister and ready to go.  
“A farm-house, just outside Lincoln, Nebraska. Call me when you’re close and I’ll direct you.”  
“Thanks. Call you soon, Uncle Bobby,” Alex grinned and slammed her flip phone shut.

She smiled at Sam, “Finally. Felt like I was going nuts.” He smiled back, “So, you gonna get Dean?” Alex laughed, “No ways. That one’s all yours.” Sam grimaced, “I’ll play you for it.” They both got ready for rock-paper-scissors. Alex knew Dean always went with scissors, but Sam was a tougher opponent. One, two, three; they both played paper. Sam smirked, “Again.” One, two, three; again, they both played paper. Alex groaned, “Please Sam. Neither of us is gonna give in. I’m older, and I say you should go.” Sam frowned at her, “No ways!” Alex pursed her lips, “I’ll let you sit in the front on the way to Lincoln?” Sam rolled his eyes, “You wanna nap, don’t you?” Alex gave her brother puppy eyes, “Pleeeeeeeease?”

Sam sighed already thinking of how he could cash in the favour his sister would owe him, “Fine. But you owe me one!” His sister grinned, “An IOU, it is!” Both of them got out the Impala, Sam to go get his brother, who was doing God knows what in that motel room, and Alex went to lean on the roof over the back seat. As he left, she pulled a flask from her black jacket’s inside pocket and took several long sips. She didn’t even grimace as the warm whiskey went down her throat, it was the only way she could fall asleep lately. She closed her eyes and waited, either for Sammy to return with Dean, or for the whiskey to take some sort of effect. Sam returned a few moments later with a disgusted look on his face, “You owe me, big time.” She chuckled, “Trust me, I know.” She passed Sam the book he had been reading and they both got back into the car. Once Sam’s attention was diverted again, she took a few more sips from the flask Bobby had given her for her 18th birthday, closed her eyes, and tried to get some sleep.

Less than half an hour later they were back on the road, Dean speeding and laughing as the Impala jumped in ways that made Alex regret drinking that much whiskey. She’d given up trying to sleep, and was now just sitting in the back, face a little green and head spinning; Dean was playing one of Dad’s cassette tapes. Sam turned to his brother, “Let me see your knife?” Dean’s smile faded a little, “What for?” “So I can gouge my eyes out,” Sam deadpanned and Alex laughed a little unsteady. Dean glanced at her in the rear-view mirror and chuckled, “It’s a beautiful, natural act Sam.”

“It’s a part of you I never wanted to see, Dean.” The grossed out look on Sam’s face made Alex howl. “Hey, I appreciate you guys giving me a little quality time with the twins,” he slapped Sam’s knee and grinned, meeting his sister’s eyes in the mirror. “Yeah, no problem,” Sam said, suddenly serious. “Really,” Dean smiled, sarcastic, “Well, I gotta say; I was expecting a weary sigh or an eye-roll from at least one of you.”

“No, no. You deserve to have a little fun,” Sam said. Alex thought that maybe he was getting a little too serious for her good and tipsy (if a little car-sick) mood. Dean smiled, “Well, I’m in violent agreement with you there, Sammy.” He glanced back at Alex, “Hey, little sis. Have you been drinking?” Alex frowned; she hated how Dean could always see right through her. Sam glanced back at her in surprise; she thought she saw a little contempt in his face. “Maybe…” Dean smiled, long-suffering, “Come on, little sis … Gimme the hooch.”

“Deeeeean,” Alex drew his name out. She liked how it sounded when she did, and did it again. “Come on, Deeeeeean. You’re harshing my buzz.” He laughed, “Gimme!” Alex pulled out the almost empty flask and considered finishing it out before she gave it to Dean; it was still a long drive. Then she shrugged and handed it to him. “I want it back later though; Uncle Bobby gave that to me.” Dean chuckled and opened it, “I ain’t confiscating it! You barely left any for me.” He threw it back in one swallow. Sam sighed warily. Dean closed it and threw the empty container over his shoulder, back to his little sister. Alex made a clumsy effort to catch it. “What’s Bobby got?” Dean asked Sam. Alex closed her eyes again, enjoying the way the Impala swayed under her, finding it a little humorous; knowing that Sam would bring Dean up to speed.

She got shot back into the conversation when she heard Dean mention the Devil’s Gate, “It’s weird man, I mean, the night the Devil’s Gate opened all these weirdo storm clouds reported sighted over how many cities?” Alex perked up, “Seventeen!” “Yeah. You think it would be apocalypse now, but it’s been five days and… bupkis.” Dean continued. Alex glanced up to see her brothers sharing a concerned look. “What are the demons waiting for?” Dean asked. “Beats me,” Sam offered. Alex closed her eyes again, about to offer up a snarky ‘Better days, probably’. Dean spoke first, “It’s driving me crazy.” He sounded worried. “I tell you, if it’s gonna be war, I wish it would just start already.”

“I dunno man, be careful what you wish for,” Sam grumbled. Alex frowned and opened her eyes again. She hadn’t slept in almost 24 hours, but this was important, Dean was worried. “Que Sera Sera,” she said and put an unsteady hand on Dean’s shoulder. “When was the last time you slept, Alex?” Dean asked her, good humour restored. “Now let that damned whiskey do its job and sleep.” She giggled in the way only alcohol could ever make her, “With your driving?” Sam chuckled and pulled out the book he was reading. “Fine,” Dean frowned, unhappy with having to curb his speed. “Thanks, Dean.” Alex sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back. She slept.

 

The next morning, a little outside of Lincoln, they stopped at a gas station to refill the car and Alex phoned Bobby for directions. They stopped for some breakfast too. Dean was still eating his third burger when they met up with Bobby. Alex liked the sound of the cicadas, but it was disturbing when so many of them were together so loudly this close to people. Bug problems, or an omen? As they got out, her brothers shared her concern; Sam asked “Hear those cicadas?” “Well that can’t be a good sign,” Dean answered. “Nope,” Alex piped in. She looked at the pretty farm house they were gonna check out. Washing was hanging from a line, drying in the strong breeze. She grinned at Uncle Bobby sitting on the hood of his car ahead of them, “Hey Uncle Bobby!” He nodded at her, “Hey there, kiddo.” Bobby looked at Dean and frowned, “So we’re eating bacon cheese burgers for breakfast, are we?” “It’s his third one,” Alex shared. Dean gave her a dirty look for snitching. He looked back at Bobby, “Well, I sold my soul; got a year to live. I ain’t sweating the cholesterol.” Alex felt a pang of pain as Dean said that so indifferently. “Dean,” she smacked his shoulder. Sam ignored them, choosing to focus on the job, “So Bobby, what do you think? We got a Biblical plague here, or what?” Bobby turned to the house, “Let’s find out. Looks like the swarm’s ground zero.”

They walked to the door; Dean took the last bite of his burger and swallowed, shoved the papers into Alex’s hands, knocked on the front door and shouted, “Candy-gram!” Alex grinned. She was the only person who ever found her brother’s jokes as funny as he did. She thrust Dean’s rubbish deep into her jacket pocket. They waited. Dean gave her a look and a smile and pulled out his lock-pick. Almost in synch, the other three got out their weapons. Alex clenched the comfortable grip of her Glock. Her brothers loved making fun of the gun, calling it ‘ugly’, but to Alex, this was the first gun Dad bought her when she started hunting with him and Dean again after Sammy left, and she liked it. It was a good gun. “You’re with me,” Bobby met her eyes. She nodded.

With the door finally open, they went in. Her first step in, Alex’s eyes began to water, “Dear God, that’s nasty.” Dean coughed and Sam pulled a face, “That’s awful.” Dean agreed, “That so can’t be a good sign.” Bobby removed his hand he had over his nose and tapped her arm; they split up, they went to the left of the house while Sam and Dean went forward. She fell into the familiar pattern of working with Uncle Bobby, checking the rooms one by one. All of them empty. The smell was getting worse. Alex fought her breakfast climbing back up her throat and grimaced. A few moments later, they joined her brothers in the TV room, Uncle Bobby hissing at the sight and much stronger smell. A disgusted moan came from Alex. She looked at her brothers, “That’s just gross, man.” Three decaying corpses were sitting on a couch in front of a TV, which was still blearing out a movie, flies buzzing around them. Their skin was grey and dry, eyes sunken into their skulls; it looked like they had been dead for a while. Alex felt a headache coming on.

“Bobby, what the hell happened here?” Sam asked. Bobby still looked pretty grossed out, “I don’t know.” “Check for sulphur,” came the instruction from Dean. She checked at the door and a window, Sam inspected the corpses from close-up. She glanced at her little brother and teased, “See something you like?” Sam made a face at her. With the TV still carrying on in the background, Alex scowled as the actresses’ high pitched voice added to her headache. She didn’t find any sulphur and turned to press the TV’s off button with disgust. Alex looked up at Dean as he whistled for their attention. Something was outside. Alert, headache forgotten, followed Uncle Bobby round the back. The familiar rush of adrenalin that she loved flooded her veins. When they heard the sounds of a struggle, she and Uncle Bobby rushed to see what was happening.

They rounded the corner to see Dean on the ground, two people standing over him, one with a gun raised to her brother. Just as she was getting ready for a fight, Bobby lowered his gun and put a hand on her arm, “Isaac, Tamara?” The man lifted the gun and Bobby walked to them, with a friendly smile. “Bobby,” the pretty woman with short hair smiled. With the threat of a gun trained on her brother lifted, Alex realized she had met the two before. Tamara smiled at her too, “Alex, right? What the hell are you two doing here?” Her pleasant accent was what jogged Alex’s memory the best and she remembered meeting them at the tail-end of the last year she had lived with Uncle Bobby. Bobby chuckled, “I could ask the same!” Isaac laughed, “Hey there, Bobby.” They shook hands. Alex approached, a little more friendly. From what she could recall, the two hunters were friends of Bobby’s, and she had especially liked Tamara; who was pretty, kind and light-hearted. Tamara gave her a smile and a “Hello,” Alex returned the smile, “Long time.”

Dean chose this moment to pipe up and waved his hand in the hair, “Hello, bleeding here!” Alex scoffed and gave him a rough hand up from the floor, murmuring about how easily her badass brother got his bad ass kicked. Dean scowled at her comment. Sam joined them moments later, and after a quick introduction, Isaac and Tamara invited them to crash at their house nearby for the night. Alex, having been promised a hot shower, was beyond happy.

On the drive over, Alex returned to her place in the front of the Impala, and got quizzed by her brothers about what little she knew of the married couple they had met. “Well, I met them just a little while before Dad came and fetched me from Uncle Bobby’s. They were pretty green back then, but nice. Tamara and I got along well. Went on a hunt with them, just a quick one, I think it was a Kitsune? But, they work really well as a team. Really in love, you know. And Tamara can cook.” Alex smiled, “Maybe we’ll get a home-made meal tonight! Now, when was the last time any of us ate one of those?” She grinned at her brothers.

They spent the afternoon together; and shared a pretty good home-cooked meal, but since hearing about the Devil’s Gate being their fault, Isaac treated them all a little frostily, though Tamara still seemed to like Alex. After dinner, Dean was on the phone with the coroner, flirting (Alex rolled her eyes), and Sam was fiddling with Isaac and Tamara’s admittedly vast stores of hunting supplies. Alex stood with her back against the wall, pissed off at Isaac and pretty much just irritable.

“Honey,” Isaac said, “Where’s the Palo Santo?” “Well, where did you leave it?” “I don’t know dear, that’s why I’m asking.” If Alex wasn’t so annoyed, she would have smiled at how very Mayberry the relationship was between the two. “Palo Santo?” Sam asked, curious. Alex went to go stand next to her brother, taking the dried snake in his hands, his fiddling was annoying. Sam shot her a look. “It’s holy wood,” Tamara explained, “From Peru. It’s toxic to demons, like holy water.” She went to go help her husband, still explaining, “It keeps the bastards held down while you’re exorcising them.” She lifted a thick wooden stake and handed it to Isaac. “Thank you, dear.” She smiled at him, “You’d lose your head if it weren’t for me.” Sam folded his arms, giving Alex a look that said, ‘fine, I won’t touch anything’ and asked, “So how long have you two been married?”

“Eight years, this past year.” Tamara answered. Isaac walked to her to give her a kiss on her forehead, the way that Tamara smiled made Alex smile too, even if it was only for a moment. “The family that slays together…” Isaac smiled at his wife. Sam laughed and glanced at his sister next him, she was looking at the couple with an odd little smile on her face, “Right. I’m with you there.” Alex looked up at him and playfully elbowed him in the ribs. He smiled. “So, how’d you get started.”

The atmosphere in the room soured immediately. Alex elbowed him again, this time hard and without a fond smile. It was awkward and he immediately regretted his question. He knew no one had a happy story of how they started. “Ah… you know what; I’m sorry, it’s none of my business.” “Damn straight,” he heard Alex breathe under her voice. He turned to look at Bobby, who shook his head at the tall idjit.

“No, it’s alright,” Tamara said, diffusing the atmosphere a little.  
Dean walked into the room at the right moment to avoid further awkwardness; he was still on the phone grinning, “Well, Jenny, if you look as pretty as you sound, I’d love to have a” Dean met Sam’s eyes and pulled a face “appletini.” Alex huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I’ll call you.” Dean flipped his phone shut, all business again, “That was the coroner.” “And?” Sam asked. “Get this, that whole family’s cause of death: dehydration and starvation. There’s no signs of restraints, no violence, no struggle; they just sat down and never got up.” Dean shrugged, hands in his pockets. “But there was a fully stocked kitchen just yards away,” Bobby said. “That doesn’t sound very demonic?” Alex offered. Sam nodded, “Could it be a demon?” “If it is, it’s not like anything I ever saw, and I’ve seen plenty,” Bobby offered. Dean met their eye, “Well, what now, what should we do?”

“Uh,” Isaac called attention to himself, “We’re not gonna do anything.” “Excuse me?” Sam frowned. “You guys seem nice enough, but this ain’t Scooby Doo, and we don’t play well with others.” Alex opened her mouth to sass Isaac, but knowing his sister’s temper, Sam spoke quickly, “Well I think we’d cover a lot more ground if we all worked together.” Alex bit her lip. “No offense,” Isaac said, “But we’re not teaming up with the damned fools who let the Devil’s Gate get opened in the first place.” “How’s that not offensive!” Alex said, heart speeding up.  
Tamara met her eyes for a moment before she turned to her husband, “Isaac, like you’ve never made a mistake before?” Alex watched him carefully, her heart pounding, fighting to urge to clench her fist. “Oh yeah, sure. Locked my keys in the car, turned my laundry pink; never brought on the end of the world though.”

Dean chuckled darkly “Alright that’s enough.” Feeling tensions escalating quickly, Sam stepped in, “Guys this isn’t helping.”  
“Look, there are a couple hundred more demons out there now. We don’t know where they are, when they’ll strike, there ain’t enough hunters in the world to handle something like this. You brought war down on us. On all of us.”  
Alex took an involuntary step towards the clown who was speaking, Tamara countered with a step of her own, “Okay, that’s quite enough for now.” She grabbed Isaac’s hand and pulled him out of the room behind her. Alex glared at him as he left.

“You need to relax, Alex.” Sam told her. “He was way out of line! Who does he think he is?” She turned to her brother, fire in her eyes. “Shut it, idjit,” Uncle Bobby gave her a warning look. “We’re under his roof and we just ate his food. The last thing we need now is a fight with other hunters.”  
Alex took a deep breath, trying to visualize her anger leaving her body as a red cloud when she exhaled. She nodded at Uncle Bobby snappishly, “Fine.”

An hour later, sleeping places sorted out between them, Tamara approached Alex sitting on her make-shift bed on the couch, “Hey, are you alright?” “Yes,” Alex responded, still sulking. She began to slowly twist the thin band of silver she always wore on the ring finger of her right hand. “I’m sorry about what Isaac said, he didn’t mean for it to come across that way.” Alex nodded, “You guys hunted with me before, though.” Tamara smiled at her, “I remember. It was a good hunt too. But we’re don’t need someone to show us the ropes anymore. We’ve got some skills now, too.” Alex gave no reply, but Tamara invited herself to sit down next to her. “Your hair looks good cut short,” she said. Alex looked up at her, surprised; then she remembered that when she was staying at Uncle Bobby’s her hair was still long. She ran her hand through her short blonde hair and sighed, telling a half-truth, “Thanks. Mostly it’s just easier to clean blood and other viscera out from. Also harder for the things that go bump in the night to grab.” Tamara smiled wryly, her own hair was only a little shorter than Alex’s, “Can’t argue with that.” Alex looked down at her calloused hands, watching the way the candle light lit her silver ring in its warm glow as she twisted it, “I know you and Isaac are only trying to be careful. I guess that I understand that.” It was as close to an apology as Alex ever gave anyone. Alex bristled, not that they had anything to apologize for. Just cause it was your roof didn’t mean you could be a dick. Tamara stood, still smiling at Alex. “Get some sleep; I’ll see you in the morning.”

They headed out early the next morning, staying only for some caffeine; Alex didn’t see Isaac again, but Tamara gave her a hug when they left. Bobby had a fresh lead on the case: some lady went bat-shit outside a department store. Sam and Dean would go undercover as FBI, and Alex and Uncle Bobby would pretend to be from the DA’s office to speak to the suspect they had in custody. This was one of Alex’s favourite parts of the job: the con.

Alex walked up to the policeman manning the front desk at the Station, checked the name written on his uniform and smiled at him. She looked good; it wasn’t often that she had the opportunity to, so she always made use of the smallest chance to dress up. She was wearing a navy blue pencil skirt, white ruffled shirt (easy to hide the fact that it hadn’t been ironed before she put it on) and a navy blue blazer. Her short hair was styled with some of Bobby’s hair-gel and she wore heels and make-up. “Good morning, Officer Parker.” She gave him her most winning smile. “Morning,” Bobby greeted from next to her. He didn’t look too bad himself, having ditched his signature plaid shirt and trucker’s hat for a suit and carefully slicked back hair. “Hello, how can I help you?” The officer asked, sitting up straighter and eye-balling their professional outfits. “My name’s Carol King, this is my co-worker, Mark Sheppard. We’re from the DA’s office. We’d like to speak to Ms Catherine Humphreys, she was arrested earlier today?” He looked surprised, “That was quick.” Alex nodded and lifted and eyebrow, “The woman she assaulted knows some very important people.” He nodded, “Do you have any ID?” “Oh. Sure, is my OCA card okay?” Alex reached into her blazer’s inner pocket and showed him the previously mentioned card that Uncle Bobby had given her a few minutes earlier. “Yeah, that’s great.” The Police Officer looked at it for a moment, almost unsure of what to do with it, before giving it back to her. “Do you mind asking someone to set up a place where we could question her for a few minutes, Officer Parker?” She smiled at him again. “Yes ma’am.” 

A few minutes later, they met with the suspect in question, Catherine Humphreys. She was pretty, blonde, and burst into tears almost immediately after they introduced themselves. She also had no priors and taught the second grade. Alex carried with her a styrofoam cup filled with holy water, and Bobby had one half filled with Police Station coffee, Alex’s least favourite kind of coffee.  
“I’ve never done something like that before. It’s not me! I’m not like that!” She sobbed, explaining again; looking at Alex, eyes pleading her to believe her.  
“We understand,” Alex said and placed her hand over Catherine’s. “Sometimes people just… lose control. I’ve had many cases where people completely black out. They don’t even remember what happened. Or it was almost like someone else was controlling their actions for them. Did you experience anything like that?” This was too easy.

“No…” Catherine said. “It just… happened. It was me. I don’t understand why: I just suddenly felt like I needed those shoes. Like they could only belong to me. They weren’t even in my size!” She started tearing up again. Alex was persistent, even though she felt Uncle Bobby begin to lose his patience. She patted Catherine’s hand and made a soothing noise, “Would you like some water?” Catherine shook her head no. Alex had her doubts about the woman being possessed after the last few minutes of the interview, but still needed to make sure.  
“Listen, ma’am, could you tell us in your own words why you assaulted that woman?” Bobby asked, no nonsense. This was often part of their ‘bit’. A little good-cop bad-cop rarely failed.  
Catherine’s eyes cleared as she looked at him, “Yes, sir. I just… really wanted those shoes.” Alex subtly moved the arm that was reached out to Catherine and tipped the cup of holy water over. “Oh dear!” The water spilled and Alex watched carefully to see if Catherine’s hand burned where it touched the water. It didn’t. She gave Uncle Bobby a look, and shrugged. He stood, ready to go.

Catherine looked at them in alarm, “I really didn’t want to hurt that woman. I mean, I don’t even know her!” Alex smiled at her serenely, “Ms Humphreys, I’m sure this wasn’t pre-meditated, you have no reason to worry. Our offices will be in touch with your lawyers soon.” Catherine gave her a little smile through her tears. Bobby had already left the room but Alex turned back and said with a smile, “Some free legal advice? Don’t talk to anyone about the case without your lawyer present, okay?”

They left and got into Uncle Bobby’s car. “That didn’t seem to lead anywhere,” Bobby said. Alex sighed, “Not really. Maybe she just went a little nuts. I saw those shoes, they we’re ugly. Anyone who wants those is nuts in my book.” Bobby chuckled, “Since when do you know so much about what makes a shoe pretty or not?” She gave him an exasperated look, “Anyone with eyes could see those were ugly. They were green. And not just green, but puke green. So, just a co-incidence?” Alex asked. Bobby grunted, “You know what I think about co-incidences.” Alex thought for a moment, ‘The shoes weren’t in her size either.”

They drove in comfortable quiet for a while, “You and Tamara still seem to get along well, not so much with Isaac.” Alex sighed, “Yeah.” A few moments of silence, “He didn’t seem to like us much.” Bobby nodded, “Well. You idjits did open a doorway to Hell.” Alex chuckled, “You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.” Bobby’s was thoughtful , “Seeing your dad like that again, you sure you okay, kid?” Alex bit down on her teeth, hard, “He seemed proud of us. Finally ganking Yellow-eyes.” “Is it how you thought it would be?” Bobby asked, keeping his eyes on the road. “Is anything ever?” Alex sighed and looked out her window at the buildings passing by. Without noticing, she lightly touched her silver ring and rotated it once, slowly. “I don’t know,” she paused and thought, “I don’t know if Dad’s approval means that much to me anymore. And… well, we both know that killing the Yellow-eyes wasn’t my obsession like Dad and Dean… Even Sam.” Bobby knew. He was the only one who knew that Alex didn’t obsess over the yellow-eyed demon like everyone else in her family; that she wasn’t driven by revenge for her mother. And with Dad? Alex felt conflicted. Sometimes all that she had wanted was her father’s notice and affection, other times she had hated him. Bobby didn’t ask any more questions; Alex didn’t have any answers, so they drove in silence.

Soon, they joined Sam and Dean in the store, and Uncle Bobby was checking himself out in the mirror nearby. Dean saw them and whistled, he gave Alex a wink. “Wow. Looking spiffy, Bobby. What were you, a G-man?” “Attorney for the DA’s office,” he answered, “We just spoke to the suspect.” “Yeah? What do you think, was she possessed or what?” Sam asked. “Or what, seems like,” Alex said. Bobby nodded, “None of the usual signs; no blackouts, no loss of control. Emotional, but lucid. Just; she really wanted those shoes. Alex spilled a cup of holy water on her just to be sure – nothing.” Dean turned to watch some woman as she walked past, “Maybe she’s just some random whack-job?” Bobby shook his head, “If it had been an isolated incident, maybe; but, first the family, and now this? I believe in a lot of things, co-incidence aint one of them.” “What about you two, you find anything?” Alex asked. Her feet we’re starting to hurt a little. The tall black heels looked pretty, but man, the price she had to pay for it… Sam shook his head, “No sulphur, nothing.”

“Well, maybe something,” Dean cut in. Alex gave him a questioning look; he smiled knowingly and looked up at the camera on the roof behind him. Dean turned to Sam and pouted, “See, I’m working.”  
Dean and Sam flashed their badges and they were watching the security footage from earlier that day. Sam noticed something, “Check out this guy… Might just be a guy. Or might be our guy.” The man in question walked into the store and straight to where Katie, the suspect, was browsing through shirts on sale. He spoke to her briefly, touching her shoulder and left. Directly after that conversation, Katie had approached the woman she’d killed and spoke to her about the ugly green shoes. “Looks like a lead,” Alex said, “Better than nothing.” Dean sighed, “The three of us will canvas the town with his picture, see what we can find.” Alex felt her stomach drop. She hated canvassing for strangers. It usually took an eternity. They split up and started working.

 

Just before midnight, Dean, Alex and Bobby were sitting in Bobby’s car in front of a bar. Alex was passed out in the back seat. She’s spent the whole day walking around her section of the town and hadn’t found anything. Dean had though.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Bobby asked. “No.” Said Dean, feeling tired and looking at his sister snoring in the back seat jealously. “But I spent all day canvassing this stupid town with this guy’s stupid mug, and supposedly he drinks at this stupid bar.” A sudden banging on the side of the Impala made all of them jump. Alex was instantly alert. It was Sam. “It’s not funny,” Dean told his grinning brother. “I was sleeping, Sam.” Alex groaned and made space for Sam to get in the back seat. “Alright, so John Doe’s name is Walter Rosen, he’s from Oak Park, just west of Chicago. Went missing about a week ago.” “The night the Devil’s Gate opened?” Dean connected the dots. “Yeah,” Sam confirmed it. “Possession?” Alex asked, and stretched, getting rid of the last remnants of sleep in her system. “I’d bet on it.”

Alex frowned, “Still doesn’t explain Catherine.” Sam nodded, “He just walks up to someone, touches them and they go stark-raving psycho or something?” Bobby explained it for them, “Those demons that got out of the Gate, they’re going to be able to do all kinds of things we haven’t seen.”  
“You mean the demons we let out.” Sam stated. There was a hot twist in Alex’s stomach. “Don’t-“

“Guys,” Dean interrupted. The man, Walter Rosen, had just parked in the lot and was getting out of his car. “Alright, show-time.” Alex could hear the anticipation in Dean’s voice. “Wait a minute,” Bobby interrupted him. “Why?” Dean asked. “What did I just say? We don’t know what to expect out of this guy… We should tail him till we know for sure,” Bobby explained. Alex felt inclined to agree with Uncle Bobby on this one.

“Oh, so he kills someone and we’re just sit here with our junk in our hands?” Dean raised his voice slightly. “We’re no good dead,” Bobby explained. “And we’re not gonna make a move until we know what the score is.” Alex was still watching the parking lot with Sam, and noticed two familiar figures getting out of a car, she dug her elbow into Sam’s side lightly. Sam nodded at her, having seen it too. “Hey, Bobby,” he got the two bickering in the front’s attention. “I don’t think that’s an option.” “Why not?” “Look,” Alex nodded to the parking lot.  
Isaac and Tamara was walking from their car to the bar.

“Damn it!” Bobby smacked the steering wheel.  
“So what now?” Alex asked. “Are we their back-up?” Uncle Bobby sighed, “Let’s go.” They got out of the car and tried the front door. It wasn’t locked, but they couldn’t open it; they heard the conversation inside, “I don’t like hunters in my bar!” “They’ve been made,” Alex stated. Dean grabbed her by the shoulders and moved her out of the way. He and Uncle Bobby began to ram their shoulders against the door. “It’s not working,” Alex hissed. “No shit!” Dean growled at her. “You got a better idea?” They could hear laughter coming from inside the bar, and then Tamara shouting her husband’s name

“I do!” Sam responded. “The car,” he explained. Alex’s eye brows shot up as she realized what he meant. “Let’s go!” They hot footed it back to the car and got in. “You ready, kids?” Bobby asked. Alex took a jug filled with holy water and uncapped it: ready. Bobby floored it and the car flew across the lot, he put it in reverse and through the door of the bar. As soon as they were through and Uncle Bobby out of the seat in front of her, Alex jumped out of the car. She followed Uncle Bobby’s lead and threw holy water on the people all standing inside. All of them screamed. The entire bar was filled with demons. She briefly noticed Isaac lying on the floor, dead? Tamara was screaming. Sam grabbed her and pushed her into Alex’s arms; she gave her brother her half-full jug of holy water and tried to get Tamara into the car. Tamara was fighting her, screaming for her husband. Alex was stronger than her though and wrestled her into the back seat. Uncle Bobby got in the car, Dean and Sam were still outside, struggling with one of the demons. But they managed to overpower it and throw it in Bobby’s car-boot that Alex knew was a Devil’s Trap. All of them back into the car seconds later, tires squealed as they took off.

 

A few hours later, they were back at Isaac and Tamara’s house. They had the demon that Dean and Sam had caught tied to a chair and under a Devil’s trap. Tamara had explained how Isaac had died: one of the demons had touched Isaac and compelled him to drink a jug of bleach. At the moment Bobby was reading; Sam and Tamara stood across from each other, making their cases for their next move; and Alex and Dean watched. “And I say: we’re going back,” Tamara insisted again. “Would you just hold on a second,” Sam said, with exasperation bordering on annoyance. She was less hysterical than what she was back at the bar, but panic was bubbling just under the surface. Alex watched and twisted the ring on her right hand around and around her finger, in nervous habit; anger and frustration burning in her chest. “I left my husband bloody on the floor!” Tamara shouted. “Okay, I understand that, but we can’t go back,” Sam said, holding his hands up, trying to calm her down. “Fine, then you stay. But I’m heading back to that bar,” she was determined.

“I’ll go with her,” Dean offered. Tamara took a deep breath and looked at him with grateful eyes. “It’s suicide, Dean!” Sam roared. “So what, I’m dead already!” Dean said in a voice Alex didn’t recognise, a strange look on his face.

Alex couldn’t take it anymore, “Stop it!” She walked up to Dean and grabbed the front of his jacket and pushed him a little, hoping he would get a grip. Dean scowled at her and roughly freed himself from her grip . “How are you gonna kill them? You can’t shoot them, you can’t stab them, they’re not just gonna wait in line to get exorcised, Dean,” Sam stated, his brows lifted in sarcasm. Alex turned to look at Tamara, blazing eyes softening at the woman’s stricken face; “You think that Isaac wants to you to martyr yourself for him?” “I don’t care!” Tamara shouted in Alex’s face. The burning emotion in Alex’s chest doubled. “We don’t even know how many of them there are!” Sam answered Tamara’s shout with one of his own.  
“Yeah, we do.” Bobby cut in. While the idjits in front of him had been arguing, he had been confirming his suspicions: “There’s seven. Do you have any idea who we’re up against?” “No,” Dean answered for all of them, “Who?”

“The seven deadly sins!” Bobby answered. “Live and in the flesh!”  
For a moment, Alex’s mind failed to understand what Uncle Bobby said.  
“What’s in the box!” Dean shouted. Alex’s head spun to look at her brother. Unbelievable. He was grinning at them. Slowly his smile faded. “Brad Pitt; Se7en… No?” he raised an eyebrow.  
“It’s just your timing, Dean,” she stared at her brother in disbelief, shaking her head slightly.

Bobby shut the book he was reading from with a snap and shoved it into Dean’s hands. “What’s this?” Dean asked. “Binsfield’s classification of demons,” Bobby explained. “In 1589, Binsfield ID’d the seven sins: not just as human vices, but as actual devils.”

Sam connected the dots; “The family, they we’re touched by Sloth.” Alex froze in realization, and then asked; “And this morning; that was Envy, wasn’t it?” Uncle Bobby nodded, “I couldn’t suss it out at first, until you told us about Isaac,” he motioned at Tamara, who looked like she was growing jumpy again. “He was touched with an awful Gluttony.”  
“I don’t give a rat’s arse if they’re the Three Stooges or the Four Tops!” Tamara erupted. “I’m gonna slaughter every last one of them,” she punctuated the last words with a pointed finger at Bobby.

He took several steps towards her, “We already did it your way. You burst in there half-cocked, and look what happened!” Bobby was pissed. “These demons haven’t been top-side in half a millennium. We’re talking medieval - dark ages. We’ve never faced anything close to this. So we are gonna take a breath, and figure out what our next move is!” Bobby shouted. Alex could see how Uncle Bobby’s words affected Tamara and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Uncle Bobby,” she said softly. He shrugged her hand off, but relented, “I am sorry for your loss.”  
Tamara’s eyes met Alex’s. They were filled with tears. She pushed past Bobby and left the room. Sam and Dean met gazes. The siblings followed Bobby into the room where the demon was trapped. Tamara joined them moments later.

“So you know who I am, huh?” the demon asked with a smirk and a chuckle. Alex’s chest tightened in anger. She began to furiously twist the ring on her right hand with her right thumb. “We do; we’re not impressed,” said Bobby.  
“Why are you here,” Sam asked, “What are you after?” Silence. It simply looked at them, smirking. Alex pulled the ring from her finger and gripped it tightly in her left hand, feeling the hard metal pressing into her skin. Her eyebrows pinched close together.  
“He asked you a question!” Dean said. “What do you want?”  
The demon chuckled at them, as if he couldn’t believe their insolence .

Dean opened a flask filled with holy water, and flicked some of it over the demon. It jumped a little and moaned, its skin smoking wherever the water touched it. Its breathing became ragged and it looked up at Dean, “We already have what we want.” “What’s that?” Dean asked. The Demon met Alex’s eyes and smiled, “We’re out.” It looked around the room, smirking, “We’re free. Thanks to you, my kind are everywhere.” Alex felt her stomach drop; the anger in her chest turn to ice. “I am legion, for we are many,” it explained and chuckled. “So me: I’m just celebrating. Having a little fun.” Alex slipped the ring back on her finger and frowned. “Fun?” Sam asked. “Yeah. Fun.” It replied. “See, some people crochet, others golf; me: I like to see people’s insides on their outsides.” A cold shiver went through Alex as it met her eyes again.

Tamara took a step towards it, “I’m gonna put you down like a dog.” Unfazed, it turned to her and responded with a smile, “Please.” Then laughed, looking around the room, “You really think you’re better than me. Which one of you can cast the first stone, huh? What about you Dean? You’re practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust.” Dean silently agreed with a look. “Or you, Alex?” She grit her teeth, eyes flashing. “A woman after my own heart. All that envy, jealousy and bitterness; eating you up on the inside. And the wrath too. Tell me, how long have you hated your brothers for stealing all of Daddy’s love and attention?” The words lit Alex’s chest with pain and anger; she bared her teeth at him, hissing violently. Her balled fists shook with the effort it took not to attack the demon. It barely spared her another moment, looking to the next person in the room, “And Tamara,” it tisked its tongue, “You’re pretty wrathful yourself. It’s the reason you and Isaac became hunters in the first place. It’s so much easier to drink in the rage than to face what really happened all those years ago.”

Tamara snapped. She jumped on the demon and began to punch it, sounds of emotion escaping her with each blow. Bobby and Dean quickly grabbed her, and dragged her a few steps back. She fought them. “Whoo!” The demon exclaimed, working its jaw where Tamara had hit it. Alex watched; her own rage building like fire in her chest. Her fists were clenched, she was sneering at it. Sam put a hand lightly on her arm. She refused to look at him, keeping her eyes trained on the demon.

“My point exactly. And you call us sins.” It smiled mockingly at Alex. It leaned forward in its seat “We’re not sins, man! We are natural human instinct.” It turned and faced Dean, “And you can repress and deny us all you want, but the truth is; you are just animals.”  
“Horny,” it stared at Dean.  
“Greedy,” turned to Alex.  
“Hungry,” looking at Bobby.  
“Violent, animals.” It glowered at Tamara.  
“And you know what? You’ll be slaughtered like animals too,” it met Sam’s eyes last.  
Then it leaned back, luxuriously, and smiled, “And the others, well, they’re coming for me.” It began to chuckle darkly.  
Dean smiled without humour and leaned over it, intimidating; “Maybe, but they’re not gonna find you, cause you’ll be in hell.” Slowly, the smile faded from the demon’s face. “Someone send this clown packing,” Dean instructed, turned and left the room.

“My pleasure,” Tamara said. Bobby gave her the book with the exorcism in it and followed Dean from the room. Sam left too. Alex was rooted to the spot, still staring at the demon, unable to look away. Her body was shaking with anger. Tamara began the exorcism, and the demon groaned.

She tore herself from the scene. Bobby, Dean and Sam were speaking in the next room. “I don’t think we’re gonna have to worry about hunting them,” said Bobby. “What does that mean?” Sam asked. He watched his sister as she entered the room, her face dark and angry. How often has he seen her look like that? Just as angry as Dad used to get.

“I think maybe this joker is right,” Bobby explained, “They’re gonna be hunting us. And they’re not gonna quit easy.” Silence filled the room as each hunter processed what he’d said. Alex could vaguely hear the sounds of the exorcism. She went to go lean against the shelves next to her younger brother, folding her arms against her chest, just like his. Dean thought for a moment and nodded to his siblings, “You guys, why don’t you take Tamara and head for the hills. I’ll stay back, slow them down; buy a little time.”

“You’re insane, Dean.” Sam said, tired of hearing his brother talk about his own life like that. He could see Alex standing next to him from the corner of his eye; she was scowling at their brother. “Just forget about it, okay?”

“Sam’s right,” Bobby agreed.  
Dean felt his frustration growing, “There’s six of them, guys. We’re out-manned, we’re out-gunned; we’ll be dead by dawn.”  
Bobby nodded, “Maybe, but there’s no place to run that they won’t find us.”

“Look,” Sam interjected, “If we’re going down, we’re going down together, alright.” He glanced at his sister, hoping for support. She was still glaring silently at their older brother.  
Dean gave in, “Well, let’s not make it easy for them.”  
The walls of the room vibrated and they heard a scream. A strong wind blew through the house, extinguishing the candles that we’re lit in the room they were stranding. The exorcism must be complete. Moments later Tamara walked into the room, “Demon’s out of the guy.” “And the guy?” Sam asked. “He didn’t make it.” She left.

 

Several hours later they were ready and watching. They had planned and strategized and finally, split up to wait. Sam and Dean sat in the main bedroom on the second floor, Sam watching the boarded up window looking out over the front of the house. Bobby, Alex and Tamara were in the living room, taking turns keeping watch through a window along the wall of the front door. On the floor along the door there was a thick line of salt, as well as at each window in the house. Alex sat on the floor with her shotgun to her left and a bucket of holy water on her right. They had made sure that there were Devil’s Traps at various tactical positions throughout the house. Alex wasn’t sure how confident she felt about their chances. Deep in thought, she was spinning the ring on her right hand around and around her finger without noticing. Her stomach felt sick from the earlier interaction with the demon possessed man. Alex jumped when the noise of the radio came from upstairs. It was time.

She stood quickly, met eyes with Uncle Bobby. Adrenaline rushed through her veins and sharpened her senses. She cocked her shotgun.  
“Tamara!” Came a shout from outside. Tamara gasped in surprise, hands clutching tightly at the Palo Santo stake she was holding. Her wide eyes met with those of Bobby and Alex. “Tamara!” It came again. Tamara’s lips began to shake and tears filled her eyes. She turned her gaze back to her view through the window. She fought to stay. Her limbs trembled.

“Tamara! Help me! Please!” Alex heard Tamara sob and walked towards her, reached a hand to her shoulder, but paused, unsure if she should touch the other woman. Past her, through the window, Alex could see Isaac stumbling towards the front porch. He was clutching his stomach; blood dripping from his mouth.  
“Tamara! I got away, but I'm hurt bad. I need help!” The demon possessing Isaac shouted. He was slowly making his way up the porch stairs, grasping on to the rail and heaving his body along.

Bobby came to stand with them; he took a hold of Tamara’s shoulder and forced her to meet his eyes, “It's not him. One of those demons is possessing his corpse.”  
It made it to the front door and began to bang on it. Alex took a few steps towards the door and lifted her shotgun to her shoulder, just in case. “Baby! Why won’t you let me in?” They listened in silence. Alex felt her heart twisting in her chest as she heard Tamara quietly biting back sobs. “You left me back there!”

“How could you do that? We swore, at that lake in Michigan, remember? We swore we would never leave each other.”  
“How did he know that?” Tamara’s voice broke free with a cry.  
“Steady, Tamara.” Bobby quieted her.  
“You're just gonna leave me out here? You're just gonna let me die?” Tamara sobbed, tears flowing freely from her eyes. “I guess that's what you do, dear. Like that night those things came to our house: came for our daughter. You just let her die too.”

“You son of a bitch!” Tamara tore from Bobby’s hands and shoved Alex out of her way. She threw the front door open, scattering the line of salt, and tackled the demon outside the door. The two of them rolled down the stairs and fell to the floor at the bottom. A scream split from Tamara’s lips as she sat on top of the body of her possessed husband and clutched the Palo Santo with all her strength. “You’re not Isaac,” she screamed, voice filled with heartbreak. She lifted the stake high into the air and brought it down with a grunt, it stabbed into Isaac’s chest with a sickening wet sound and an animalistic bellow began to escape his bloody mouth.

With the line of salt broken, the other five demons rushed into the house. They barrelled past Alex, shoving her into a wall across the room, and charged up the stairs. Alex crashed against the wall with a grunt and fell to the ground, dropping her shotgun. A large figure was standing in the door frame, it was Sloth. He looked across the room; seeing that Alex was on the ground, he turned to face Bobby. Bobby was unarmed and Sloth smiled. He advanced towards him. Bobby immediately began to back-pedal away from the demon, eyes fearful. Fear turned to triumph as Sloth walked right beneath a Devil’s Trap and got stuck. Bobby grinned, “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”

Alex shook her head, recovering from her impact with the wall. She grabbed her shotgun, glanced at Uncle Bobby to check if he could handle the downstairs situation. He gave her a nod, and began to exorcise Sloth, and she ran up the stairs to go help her brothers who were facing the remaining four demons on their own. She saw three demons break down the door to the room where her brothers were. She wasn’t sure where the fourth one is, but she had three demons to worry about right in front of her.

“Here’s Johnny,” she heard one of them say. Mentally, she decided to laugh at the reference later. She dashed down the hall and into the room. She raised the barrel of her gun to shoot the demon on her right, who was possessing a thin, mostly bald man. He grabbed the gun and plucked from her hands with a roar. The demon behind her grabbed her roughly, and they struggled for a moment. Then it tugged at her shoulder sharply and Alex gasped in pain as her shoulder dislocated with a sickening sound. The other one punched her several times, she could hear the third one, who Sam called Pride, speaking to him. Where the hell was Dean?

“Ah… Sam Winchester. The prodigy. The Boy King. Looking at you now, I gotta tell you, I don't believe the hype. You think I'm gonna bow to a cut-rate, piss-poor human like you? I have my pride, after all. Now with your yellow-eyed friend dead, I don't have to do a damn thing, do I? You're fair game now, boy, and it's open season.”

Darkness began to fill Alex’s vision as the demon in front of her continued to beat her to a pulp. Alex’s mind ran wild, trying to find an escape. Suddenly, the floor was rushing forward to meet her. The demon holding her had dropped her and the one who was hitting her dropped to the floor, its throat cut and choking. Was it dead? She moaned and rolled, watching as a woman yielding a serrated knife fought above her. She plunged the knife into the demon standing above Alex’s chest. The demon inside the possessed woman flickered visibly for a moment then died. Pride grabbed her saviour’s arms, but Sam hit him from the side, setting her free. The blonde woman thrust the knife upwards, it slashed through Pride from beneath his chin, and the final demon in the room was dead.

Alex gaped at her, blood leaking from her mouth.  
“Who the hell are you?” Sam asked their saviour. She glanced down at Alex quickly, then met Sam’s eyes. “I’m the girl that just saved your ass.”  
“Well, I just saved yours too,” Sam sassed. The blonde woman smiled at him, “See you around, Sam.” With one last glance at Alex on the floor, she walked out of the room.  
“Wait!” Sam rushed into the hallway after her, but she was gone. So he returned to check on his older sister who was lying on the floor, gasping in pain.

 

The next morning Alex was watching her brothers as they dug a shallow grave for three dead people. Her whole face felt swollen and her body was covered in bruises. She gingerly cradled her right arm to her chest, even though Dean had popped it back into its socket hours ago, it was still painful and sensitive. From previous experience, Alex knew it would be for several days.  
Grave dug, Sam and Dean carried the three bodies to it. Sam had the salt and Dean the gas. After Dean had covered the bodies in the gas, he paused and followed his sister’s gaze. Alex was looking at Tamara who stood in front of a pyre she had constructed herself. On it, she was giving Isaac a hunter’s funeral. His body was already burning.

“Do you think she’s gonna be alright?” Sam asked her, breaking her concentration. Alex didn’t know.  
“No,” said Dean. “Definitely not.”  
Alex looked away from Tamara’s grief as Bobby approached them. He looked tired and grey.  
“Well, you look like hell warmed over,” Dean told him.  
“Well, you try exorcising all night, see how you feel,” came Bobby’s gruff reply; he scratched his beard and stuck his hands into his pockets.  
“Any survivors, Bobby?” Sam asked. “Well, the pretty girl and the heavy guy. They'll make it.” He answered. “A life-time of therapy bills ahead, but still…”  
“It's more than you can say for these poor bastards,” Dean nodded at the grave in front of them and pulled out a matchbook. Alex nodded grimly.  
“Bobby, that knife: what kind of blade can kill a demon?” Sam asked. Bobby shrugged, “Yesterday I’d have said there was no such thing.”  
Dean smirked, “I'm just gonna ask again. Who was that masked chick?” Alex felt the corners of her mouth pick up slightly as she met her big brother’s eyes.  
“If you want a troubling question, I got one for you,” Sam said. “Hm?” Alex asked. “If we let out the seven deadly sins, what else did we let out?”  
The question hung in the air for a moment and the weariness in Alex’s body doubled as she considered it.  
“You’re right; that is troubling.” Dean said. He lit the matchbook, and threw it into the pit. The gas lit instantly, flames licking high into the cool morning air. Alex stared into it, but it held no answers.

 

A little while later, they were saying their goodbyes. Tamara shouldered her duffle and gave a final greeting, “See you guys around.”  
“Tamara,” Bobby called after her. She turned to them and he carried on, “World just got a lot scarier. Be careful.” Tamara met everyone’s eyes in quick succession, “You too.” She turned and walked the final steps to her car, opened the driver’s side door and got in, throwing her bag on the passenger’s seat. She started the car and left without another glance to them.  
Bobby nodded at the Winchesters and instructed, “Keep your eyes peeled for omens. I’ll do the same.” “You got it,” Dean answered. With a final nod at Alex, Bobby turned to leave.

“Wait, Bobby,” Sam stopped him. Alex looked up at her brother, eyebrows pulled close together. Sam pulled his shoulders up, his next words coming out breathily, “We can win this war, right?” All three the Winchesters turned to look at Bobby. His heart was in his throat as he looked at the three people he loved most in the world; unwilling to lie to them, unable to say to them what they wanted to hear, he let his silence be his answer. Alex looked away first, feeling cold and empty. Sam and Dean shared a loaded look.  
“Catch you on the next one,” Bobby said. He walked away. As he drove past the, he held hand out the car window and waved. The three of them gave little dejected waves in return.  
“So, where to?” Dean asked, trying to lift the mood. He clapped his hands once and rubbed them together. They began to walk to the Impala.  
Alex and Sam shared a look and she spoke, “Got a lead in Louisiana.”

Dean almost smiled, “A little early for Mardi Gras, isn’t it?” Alex sighed and gave Sam a pointed look. “I was talking to Tamara and she mentioned this Hoodoo priestess that might be able to help us out; you know, with your demon deal,” Sam explained.  
“Nah.” Dean said.  
“Nah? What does that mean, ‘Nah’?” Sam asked, aghast.  
“Sam, no Hoodoo spell’s gonna break this deal,” Dean explained. “It’s a goose chace.”  
“We don’t know that.” They stopped walking to the car.  
“Yes, we do.” Dean said, insisting. “Forget it, she can’t help.”

Alex felt a twist of anger in her chest, but she was too tired and sore. “Dean, come on. Let’s just go speak to her,” Alex tried.  
Dean just gave her a patient look, “We’re not going, and that’s that.” Alex grit her teeth and Sam sighed. Then Dean gave her a grin and nudged her uninjured shoulder, “What about Reno?”  
He began to walk to the car again. Sam reached out and grabbed Dean’s arm, he was sick of it. “You know what? I’ve had it. I’ve been bending over backwards trying to be nice to you and I don’t care anymore.”

“That didn’t last long,” Dean scoffed.  
Sam growled, “Look at us, Dean. We’ve been busting our asses trying to keep you alive. And you act like you couldn’t care less. You got some kind of death wish, or something?”  
“No, it’s not like that.”  
“Then what’s it like, Dean?”  
“Sam-“  
“Please, tell us.”  
“We trap a crossroads demon; trick it, try to welch our way out of the deal in any way: you die. Okay? You die. Those are the terms. There’s no way out of it. So if you two try and find a way, so help me God, I’m gonna stop you.”

“You don’t get to make that decision alone, Dean,” Alex frowned at her brother. “You think it’s easy for us? For me?” Alex glared up at her younger brother too now, “You two fighting over which one gets to live and die for the other. Either way, one of you is still dead. Either way, I’m still losing one of my brothers. You guys are being dicks. We’ll find a way to safe you, Dean. Without losing Sam.”  
Dean began to lose his temper, “Maybe I don’t want to be saved, Alex!” He took a deep breath, anger evaporating. “I'm tired, Alex. I don’t know, it's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.”  
“That’s hellfire, Dean.”  
“Eh. Well, whatever. Sammy’s alive, I feel good for the first time in a long time.” Dean smiled. “I got a year to live, guys. I'd like to make the most of it. So, what do you say we kill some evil sons of bitches. We raise a little hell?”  
Dean turned and walked to the car. Sam shook his head and looked at his sister who seemed crushed by his answer.  
“You’re unbelievable!” He called after Dean.  
“Very true,” came the sarcastic reply.


End file.
